Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Brandenburg ()

Joint Task Force West Commander Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson meets with staff of the Crown Plaza Resort to thank them for all their hard work supporting Defense Coordination Element West since Typhoon Mawar struck the island, Tamuning, Guam June 3, 2023. DCE-West has been using one of Crown Plaza Resort’s lounges as their base of operations for more than a week to facilitate recovery efforts. A Combined Joint Task Force led by U.S. Army Pacific and Task Force West are the DoD representatives supporting FEMA and the governments of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as we continue recovery efforts in the wake of Typhoon Mawar. Commander Task Force West Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, and all military installation commanding officers in Guam are diligently working to restore steady state to the bases, and dedicate resources to all FEMA mission assignments. Typhoon Mawar moved through the area as a Category 4 storm on May 24, bringing hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and high seas marking the strongest storm to affect the island since Typhoon Pongsona in 2002.